Remember SnackWell's? In the 1990s America's fear of fat was perhaps even more pronounced than the aversion to gluten we have seen in this decade. In her 1995 JBF Journalism award–winning article, "A Food Lover's Guide to Fat," historian Laura Shapiro addressed the anti-fat frenzy:

Consider the Oreo: two chocolate discs, a creamy filling, and a tradition going back to 1912. For as long as cookie sales have been tracked, Oreos have been the industry front-runner, occasionally jockeying for first place with Chips Ahoy! or Fig Newtons, but always the sentimental favorite. Until this year. When the cookie-and-cracker bestseller list for 1994 is tabulated, last year’s number six will have flown straight up into first place, with Oreos in a dismal fourth. America’s new passion is SnackWell’s. Introduced by Nabisco only two years ago, SnackWell’s is a line of fat-free and low-fat snacks best known for the Devil’s Food Cookie Cake, a morsel of cake and marshmallow wrapped in a shiny chocolate coat.... Read more >

At yesterday’s Beard on Books, author and self-labeled “fat lady” Jennifer McLagan delighted the crowd with her honest talk on fat, the most misunderstood block in the food pyramid. The discussion was largely based on her latest book, Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes, which took home the medal for Cookbook of the Year at last year’s JBF Awards.
Raised in Australia, McLagan recalls how she “ate fat with pleasure,” always opening the refrigerator to find three different types: butter, lard, and drippings. Fat was used in everything and no one she knew was overweight, a far-fetched world for Americans who subscribe to a religion of low fat or no fat.
McLagan also focused on health benefits of fat, specifically the nutrients in high-quality animal fat that keep us

For our first Beard on Books of the year, we're tossing those healthy resolutions out the window and sitting at the feet of Jennifer McLagan, chef, food stylist, and fat advocate. She's discussing her latest book, Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes, which was named Cookbook of the Year at the 2009 James Beard Awards. Supported by common sense and science, McLagan comes to the defense of this unfairly maligned nutrient, persuasively arguing that fat is indispensable to a complete diet and full flavor. (Not that we ever needed to be convinced of the latter.)
The book features recipes that get a boost from clever uses of oil, butter, or animal products. One of our favorites is her Perfect Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich: the